The STAR Trust legal high lobby group says the debate about banning legal highs is distracting from animal testing by the cosmetics and pharmeceutical industries, Radio New Zealand.
VICTORY FOR ANIMALS AS PM PROMISES NO ANIMAL TESTING FOR LEGAL HIGHS http://t.co/6eZ9qyit1b pic.twitter.com/6AL4yZpspD
— Compassion 4 Animals (@AmyRoseKathryn) May 5, 2014
Legislation is being rushed through Parliament on Tuesday to ban all synthetic drugs unless they can be proven low risk without testing on animals.
STAR Trust general manager Grant Hall said the legal highs industry is resilient and there is still a market demand for the drugs.
He said the industry has never tested products on animals, but the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries used and killed 82,000 animals in their tests.
Tell L'Oreal to stop using animals for harmful cosmetic testing #petition #animaltesting http://t.co/FIXigrSHlm pic.twitter.com/nwaoleyw3w
— TRACEY ALISON (@TRACEYALISON1) May 4, 2014
Hall said prohibition will not prevent the sale of legal highs and only shift control to the black market.